A knock on the door
by DiLaHastings
Summary: "I was scared that you would reject me… Push me away. And I would understand, but I would hate it," She began to cry. He pulled his head away from hers, brushing a strand of hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "I could never push you away," He whispered. What happens when someone gives Jason Aria's recent journal entries? JARIA MUSHY ONE-SHOT!


_**A knock on the door**_

_**JARIA**_

* * *

**_Friday_**

_I think I did something bad. Not something that could incriminate me – for once. Nevertheless, it's still bad. College has been something I have thought about since the idea of becoming a published author ever sprung in my head. The idea that one day I would be able to read a book that I've created, full of mystery, drama, romance, is far beyond words. But I need to get into college first. _

_It seems as though 'A' has it out for me – none of my first choices have replied to my application, and if they have, they've declined me. I know, perhaps it's just me. But It cannot be a coincidence that none of my 'security' options for college have accepted my applications. _

_So, I did what I had to. Once I found out that Jackie was on the board for Talmadge, I knew there was only one way I could get into it. And it was writing something that she would want to hear. Only that once I read the letter over, I began to realize that I hadn't been thinking about what I was writing. Rather, I let my subconscious do all the work. _

_They say that your subconscious does and says what you are afraid to do or say, and I didn't believe that until I had finished reading the letter._

_Ezra – for all kinds of reasons, I seem to love him. His caring nature, his ability to make me smile, not to mention that he's undoubtedly intelligent. But. I've come to realize that there's always a but when it comes to Ezra. _

_But he doesn't make me feel the way he used to, anymore. He isn't the person I think about when people bring up the feeling of 'being in love with someone'. He isn't the person I used to idolize, nor is he the person that makes me feel things anymore. He isn't even the person I dream about anymore._

_I guess… I guess loving him has become an obligation._

* * *

_**Saturday**_

_He's back in town and we had lunch today. _

_We sat at the Grill, and we spoke. He has changed. Quite a bit, as well. His hair is much shorter, and he's growing a beard. But that's not what has changed drastically about him._

_Where he used to have walls, it had tumbled. He didn't have the tinge of fear hidden in his eye like he used to. That wall had been brought up when I had told him I was 'unavailable'._

_He asked me how I was. He even asked about Ezra. At the mention of his name, I faltered. I looked anywhere but at him. He must've noticed this because his hand came over to squeeze mine encouragingly over the table. He smiled and said 'it's me, Aria. You don't have to be ashamed.' _

_I then told him about the letter I had written – his hand still on mine, only now he was rubbing soothing circles on it. He asked me the question I feared. I had been denying myself the real answer. _

'_Does the letter have any truth to it?' I wavered once again. I looked up at him, noticing his reassuring smile. I'm not sure what it is about him, but I simply cannot find it in myself to lie to him anymore. _

_Yes._

_His smile didn't waver, nor did he say 'I told you so'. No, he sat there, his hand still on mine, and he moved on. _

_He didn't ask me as to why my feelings for Ezra had changed. Nor whether what I plan on doing about it. But honestly, I wish he had. I wish he had sat told me exactly how angry he is because I chose Ezra over him. I wish he had said 'I told you so'. I wish he would've said anything regarding Ezra that would encourage me to break up with him. But he hadn't._

_Truth be told, every time I sat in Ezra's apartment after I had rejected him, I was always thinking about him. Remembering him about to kiss me on the very bed I had slept with Ezra. Remembering him sneak up from behind me as I tied my hair, his voice just a hair-breadth away from my ear. _

_And then whenever I was with Ezra, all I could think about was him. Comparing what Ezra did to what he could have if I had given him a chance. There was even a moment when he was still in town when I had walked to his house in the middle of the night, stood in front of his door – waiting for him to answer it. But I hadn't knocked._

_That's when I had realized that I wasn't giving him anything to go off on. I was simply waiting for him to try with me again when he had no idea that I even felt something toward him. He had no idea that I was waiting for him to give me a reason to break up with Ezra. _

_But, I hadn't knocked. _

_He makes me feel a way I never used to with Ezra. Even when things were good between Ezra and I. He made me laugh, he made me smile – even if I was staring at him from a distance, seeing him reading the paper. He made me feel like I was a thirteen-year-old again who had a crush on a guy. He made me feel like I was perfect. The way he stared at me – the way he stared at me today during lunch – it was the same look he had in his eyes when he kissed me that night on the side of the road. _

_I just wish he knew how I felt. _

_But then again, I hadn't knocked._

* * *

**_Sunday_**

_So, he has a thing for Mrs. Marin. _

_When I was sent on a wild goose chase and ended up at the front of Hanna's house with a bunch of flowers, I knew something was up. Not with Jason. But I knew once I entered that house, I would come out feeling different. _

_When Hanna read the note. When Hanna read the name printed on it, I knew._

_I asked Hanna. At first, she didn't budge. But after some time, she told me. _

_I stuck around for not a few moments after that, then I had left. _

_I had thought about going to his house. I thought about telling him how disappointed I am in him, about how he chose Mrs. Marin over- over me. _

_But I didn't. I came home, cried into the pillow and now, here I am, writing, hoping that the tears won't splurge onto the page and ruin it all. _

_How could he? He held my hand for all of lunch. He looked at me the way he had when we kissed. He hugged me when we finished, his head in the crook of my neck. He had pulled away, placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it._

_And he had the nerve to send Mrs. Marin flowers? _

_Why did he do that? _

_Then I realized._

_He doesn't feel the same about me anymore, and I'm just reading into everything he did because I was hoping it meant something more. But it didn't._

_And it's all because I hadn't knocked._

* * *

Aria had sat there, staring at the ink on paper. Reading the last line repetitively in her head. Her eyes pooled with anger and sadness. Over a guy that wasn't her boyfriend. A guy that had moved on because she didn't give him a reason not to.

She stood abruptly, ripping the last three pages out of her diary, crunching them up and throwing them out of her window.

Now she was lying in bed. Cheeks stained of hour-old tears, lip trembling at the thought of what she just did.

She picked up her phone, pressed the number and huffed, waiting for the person she was calling to pick up.

He did.

"We have to talk. Tomorrow."

And she ended the call. Throwing her phone at the floor, she wrapped herself up in blankets, crying herself to sleep.

* * *

School had finished, and her friends continuously asked her what was wrong. She just shrugged and continued to walk. They all decided that it was an Ezra issue, and Aria tends to tell them only a few days after the issue occurred. So, they patiently waited.

She went over to Ezra's, to have that talk, as planned.

She went over to Spencer's house that evening, all the girls were there, eating pizza and talking about Ali. She was still in jail, yet, she still seems to be playing master.

When the clock struck eight, she bided her friends a good night and walked out of the house. As she approached her car, she noticed that the DiLaurentis' porch light was on. She stared at it for a while, hoping to see him come out of the front door.

But he hadn't.

Sighing, she got in her car and drove home.

Mike was out with his friends tonight, whilst her parents went to Syracuse for a small trip. So, she had the house all to herself.

As she sat on the couch, eating the tub of chunky monkey – still in the clothes she was wearing earlier today, she sighed.

This was happening because of her stupid ego.

With the spoon in her mouth, the doorbell rang. Looking at the time, she thought it would've been Ezra.

Groaning, she put the spoon back in the tub and stood up, walking to the door.

"Ezra, I'm not really in the moo- _Jason_?" Her eyes widened as she saw the man who had caused her all the heartache these past few days.

He was wearing a grey shirt, fitted perfectly to his muscular figure. His eyes drew from her to the papers he held in his hands. She noticed his change of vision, her eyebrows furrowing together.

"Do you want to come in?" He nodded, walking past her and into her house.

As she was closing the door, she was wondering as to what could have made him come to her house? Was Mrs. Marin not available for service today?

Turning toward him, she crossed her arms.

"What's up, Jason?"

He didn't speak, just handed her the papers. The moment she read the first line, she gasped.

"Have your feelings for him changed?" He finally spoke. Her eyes snapped to his. "If so, what are you planning on doing about it?"

"Jaso-

"I wish you could've just told me, Aria," He sighed. "I wish you would've knocked."

Her breathing hitched and she felt a lump grow in her throat. Swallowing, she hoped it would go away.

"I- I don't know what to say," She stated. He took a stride toward her.

"But your letters sure do," He said, his eyes searching her hazel observers. "I stopped trying with you because you're unavailable. But that doesn't mean my feelings for you have changed."

"Really?" Aria protested, despite the heavy feeling in her heart, "And what about Mrs. Marin?" He took another stride toward her, his hand coming up to cup her cheek, staring down at her through her darkened eyelashes.

"Ashley…" He almost whispered, "She- I'm attracted to her," He couldn't lie to her. At the sound of that, she gently moved her face away from his grasp. "Aria, hey," Both hands came up to cup her face, rubbing away the tear that had fallen with his thumb. "Please don't do that. I'm trying to explain," He stated gently. She looked up at him, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Okay," She whispered.

"I'm attracted to Ashley – but it doesn't mean I feel anything toward her. I had no one, and she was the first person in this town, after I put Alison behind bars, to actually hear me out. She listened to me when I was lost," Her eyes faltered to the ground, almost blaming herself for not being there for him. "One thing lead to another, and-" He noticed the way she looked away from him at the mention of what happened between him and the older woman. "Aria, you are with Fitz. Imagine how I felt when I saw you- when I see you with him."

"But that's different,"

"Yeah, it is," He stared at her, his hands still cupping her cheeks. "You're with him because you love him. I slept with Ashley because we were both lonely… and truth be told, I missed having someone care about me." Now it was his turn to shy his eyes away from hers.

"My feelings have changed. I am no longer in love with him," She whispered. He looked up at her, eyes finding her own. "I broke up with him."

"Why didn't you knock," He asked, his forehead coming to rest on her own as if a barrier had just been brought down. Feeling the tension release from his body, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I was waiting for you to come out. I was always waiting for you to make the first move,"

"Why, Aria?" He closed his eyes, their foreheads still joined in a sentimental gesture. "Why didn't you just make the first move?"

"I was scared that you would reject me… Push me away. And I would understand, but I would hate it," She began to cry. He pulled his head away from hers, brushing a strand of hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

"I could never push you away," He whispered, "I like you too much to do that," She smiled at that, he noticed it too and smiled back at her. "But how do you feel, Aria?"

"You've read the notes, Jason. You know." He chuckled.

"I know. But I just want to hear you say it," Her heart fluttered at the way he almost pleaded for her to say the words he needed to hear.

"I've always liked you, Jason. I still do. I think… I think I've moved from like to something else," His eyes widened, "When I realized that I was holding the flowers you sent Mrs. Marin, I felt my heart shatter. I then began to reason with myself that you deserve happiness, and you deserve great things. And she would be able to give you that. But I couldn't bear the thought of you with someone else… That's when I realized I was in so deep,"

He smiled down at her, his hand brushing her cheek, leaning in as his lips touched her own.

The sighed in relief once their lips met. Hungrily, she leaned up on her toes, allowing her the access of having him wholly. He smiled against her lips. Moving her hands from his back and making their way to his chest, she tugged at his shirt collar.

He slightly laughed against her mouth, allowing her to slide her tongue into his mouth.

They pulled away, slowly. Eyes fluttering open, a smile gracing itself onto both of their faces.

"What does this mean?" She questioned, her hands still wrapped around his collar. He looked into her eyes, placing a butterfly kiss on her lips and moving away once more.

"Whatever you want it to mean," He stated.

"I want there to be an us. But, can we just start slow?" She whispered, her fingertips exploring the structure of his jawline. He smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that," She smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Stay the night," She whispered, "I don't want to be alone." His green pools of beauty reassured her.

"Of course," He kissed her forehead, their eyes fluttering shut at the sensation.

They moved to sit on the couch to watch TV, her head laying on his shoulder, her arm draped around his waist as he leaned his head atop of hers.

"Who sent you the letters?" She asked, drawing patterns on his chest. He smiled to himself as she looked up at him.

"Mike,"

He had come home from Louis' house early tonight. All the talk about Mona has circulated and now, even his mates began asking him about her.

As he was walking to his house, he noticed three pieces of paper flying out from Aria's window. Picking them up, he read them, realizing what they were.

Aria had done so much for him, even through the Mona drama, so it was his time to give back.

He got back into his car and drove to the house Aria was so afraid to go to.

He walked up the porch stairs, knocking on the door. Jason opened it, his eyebrows furrowing.

"These are Aria's. I know I shouldn't have read them, but I'm hoping this will help the both of you," Mike stated. "I'm only doing what she's afraid of doing… But she really does want you, Jason. All she ever does is talk about you."

"Really?" Jason questioned, briefly looking through the letters Mike had given him.

"She just needed a push," Mike said. "Or in her case, a knock on the door,"

With that, Mike turned around and walked to his car, leaving Jason to stare at the ripped pieces of paper in his hands. He sat on the porch stairs, reading through each paper, over and over again until he figured out what to do.

He wasn't going to let her slip away anymore. Not after everything.

So now it was his turn to knock on her door.


End file.
